The history of African-Americans, beginning in the 1500s; and covering the expansion of slavery during the 18th century; the Jim Crow era; the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s; and the 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama.

Season 1, Episode 5 Rise! (1940-1968)

First Aired: November 19, 2013

The years 1940-68 are chronicled. African-Americans returned from WWII to the same racial violence they faced prior to the war, but the news media began to report the injustices. Rosa Parks' refusal in 1955 to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus ushered in an era of nonviolent protests. Although many gains were made in the following decade, the nonviolence was often met by violence. Also: the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Black Power movement are recalled.